When Zoey Hess graduates with degrees in business management and psychology, 15 of her friends and family from Houston will be in the stands of Ford Stadium to cheer her on, something that wasn’t possible before this year. In fact, that’s 11 more people than allowed in previous years.

“I love having as many invitations as possible,” Hess said. “My mom’s really taking advantage of that and having 15 people come to graduation, so I love having all my friends and family able to attend.”

Students have long wanted to invite more guests to graduation, decorate their caps and add more stoles and cords to their regalia. It’s a tale as old as time: wanting to be surrounded by loved ones, stand out from the crowd and be different from your peers. For the first time in recent memory, SMU students will have that chance.

Will Leathers, student body president and graduating senior, said he knows President Hartzell has had these changes brewing for some time. Leathers said he thinks changing the all-university commencement ceremony to be at night in Ford Stadium should help “to make it feel a little bit more like a celebration and a party for our graduates,” and foster a more inclusive environment. Leathers couldn’t take all the credit, though.

“A lot of [the changes] started last year in May when President Hartzell decided to become president of the university,” Leathers said. “He was here on campus meeting people and was like, ‘This honestly kind of sounds stupid, that there’s an 8 a.m. ceremony where there can only be two tickets. You know, it doesn’t seem very celebratory, it doesn’t seem very inclusive for all to come.’”

By switching from Moody to Ford, students are now able to bring an unlimited number of guests – or at least as many tickets as they snatch up before they’re sold out – to their commencement ceremony. This change is an important one for some seniors like Hess.

Another senior who’s bringing in a group for the ceremonies is Duncan Yozzo, who will be graduating from Cox with a degree in business analytics and Dedman with a degree in psychology. He said there are 10 guests he’ll have to secure tickets for, which is especially exciting since they’re flying from out of state.

Yozzo, from Eugene, Oregon, said he’s seen how big state schools have their graduations and how overwhelming they can become. Eugene is famously home to the University of Oregon, which boasts a student population of over 20,700 undergraduate students.

“Yeah, they’re big. Lots of traffic, lots of stuff like that. Obviously, we’re not going to have that. I’m just really excited to see everybody all in one spot. I think it’ll be cool,” Yozzo said. “I do like that they can do more stuff. Sometimes they’ll do fireworks, they’ve done drone shows, like really cool things. So I’m excited to see what [SMU] brings out. I hope they bring out something surprising.”

Leathers said there should be a fireworks show, and some other new additions, and thinks “that also plays into a part of their decision to cancel December commencement in future years.” Leathers went on saying, “It’s a large part of trying to really invest in this May ceremony that’s all SMU, and also just bring everybody together.”

It was announced on March 31 that the December commencement ceremony would be canceled starting with the 2026 ceremony. The December graduates feature a range of students graduating, from a semester early to a semester late. The 2015 December ceremony hosted over 600 students, while the 2025 December ceremony was pared down and hosted a smaller number of students in Moody. The decision has been much discussed across campus – Yozzo saying he thought “the December commencement people got shafted” – but Hartzell remained set in his decision and its goal of uniting the school.

Hartzell sent an official statement via email to SMU students and faculty discussing the change.

“Focusing on one All-University ceremony allows the full SMU community to come together and concentrate our energy and resources on creating a more meaningful event,” Hartzell said in the statement. “This decision also reflects positive momentum in student success rates. More SMU undergraduates are completing their degrees within four years – a point of real pride and a reflection of our commitment to the value of an SMU degree. We are not alone. Many top universities like ours have come to the same conclusion and have moved to a single spring commencement.”

That spring commencement will be one full of new wonders, but the change forces some old traditions to shift as well. One being the senior attendance at The Barley House, a student-loved bar on SMU Boulevard.

In years past, seniors would arrive at Barley early in the morning – sometimes before sunrise – and drink alongside friends in their graduation regalia. Once the time came, they would walk down SMU Boulevard, across Northwest Highway and into Moody Coliseum for their 8 a.m. commencement ceremony. The morning was filled with laughs and smiles; one last hurrah for the graduates. Seeing as the ceremony is now later, some students are wondering how the tradition will carry on, if at all.

Senior Natalie Bell will be graduating from Cox with a degree in business analytics and supply chain management in May, but she has had experience with graduates for the past six years – she runs her own photography business, having started it as a “COVID hobby.” This year, she’s sharing those experiences alongside her clients, but worries the experience of Barley with the senior class might be one lost.

“I’ve heard from so many of the seniors in the past that like, everyone getting up in the morning, and then going to Barley, going to that ceremony together, I’ve had so many people tell me that was the highlight of their graduation weekend,” Bell said. “It’s the one last big thing to do with seniors.”

Yozzo and Leathers both said they will still be attending Barley at the early hour, just before the Dedman ceremony, as opposed to the all-university one.

“We’ll still be hitting up Barley regardless,” Yozzo said. “I’ll get up at 6 a.m. on Saturday regardless.”

Leathers went into more detail, though, explaining how he hopes to continue the tradition, saying he knew it was a big concern for seniors.

Leathers talked with Hartzell “about trying to carve out time in the afternoon before the ceremony or doing something around that,” Leathers said, but thinks another plan may work better.

“I think ultimately what I’ve decided, as I’ve talked to more students, is that with Dedman, who’s our largest college, being at 8 a.m., we’re still going to try to embrace that early sunrise ceremony [at Barley House],” Leathers said. “So I am going to try to communicate that out to people as well and see if we can really embrace that.”

Clearly, that word-of-mouth method is still a work in progress. Seniors like Bell and Simin Sultanali said they don’t want to get up at 6 a.m. to attend a 3 p.m. ceremony.

“Are we all going somewhere Friday night after baccalaureate? But it’s also weird because people’s families are in town and, well, if everyone brings their families to Barley, we’re not going to fit. That’s simply not going to work,” Bell said. “So, okay, well, then do we do it by our schools? Like ‘Hey, everyone, two hours before your school [go to Barley].’ … And how do you get that out? It’s not like the university can say, ‘Hey, go to this off-campus bar,’ like that’s not how that works, so it’s probably word of mouth.”

Sultanali, who is graduating from Cox with a degree in marketing and from Dedman with a degree in psychology, said she was never planning on going to Barley but can see how some would be upset by the change. What’s she most excited for? The chance to decorate her cap.

“I think it’s a cute way to wrap up my four years in college, so yeah, I’m definitely going to decorate it,” Sultanali said. “I think that’s a cute tradition, and it’s cool to see how unique everyone’s caps are, too. It’s a good way to show off your personality before you go.”

For her high school graduation in 2022, she decorated it with rhinestones, flowers and decorative letters to say “‘I’m feeling Class of ’22,’ in reference to Taylor Swift.” This year, she plans to keep that energy.

“I want to bedazzle it and all that fun stuff,” Sultanali said.

Bell will also be wearing an adorned cap – hers with a needlepoint canvas, though. She added icons from things she’s involved in on campus: a camera, for her photography business, the American Airlines logo, where she’s working postgrad, the Alpha Kappa Psi letters for her business fraternity, mahjong tiles, a plane and more to represent her hobbies.

“I love that I get to showcase all of that because that’s all part of your college experience. I think it’s really cool for people to decorate those things as they want,” Bell said.

Hess won’t be decorating her cap, but will be wearing extra cords. She said she’s “seen some really cool cap decorations” but is most excited to be surrounded by loved ones.

“Oh, I’m not excited for graduation. I want to stay here forever! But I’m really excited to celebrate with friends and family,” Hess said. “ I’m also excited for graduation picture season and taking pictures with my best friends.”

Despite the ups and downs, all the decorations and pictures, this year’s graduation signals a change. A look towards the future of SMU while recognizing the traditions that shaped it to what it is today. Leathers said it’s been great to see Hartzell come to the Hilltop and make some quick fixes to the ceremonies.

“I’ve been excited to help out with it, and with that, I started to create a student director for academic ceremonies that gets appointed through Student Senate that can really help out with that kind of graduation and ceremony things that are going on throughout the year to give input and see how that goes,” Leathers said.

Of course, some seniors are already giving their input on what could go better before the ceremony takes place. Yozzo said he hopes that in the future, the university feels it can stray farther from just alumni being chosen for the commencement address. This year, Eric Dickerson will be speaking to the graduates and their loved ones.

“Don’t get me wrong – really happy to have one half of the Pony Express talking to us. And he’s obviously very philanthropic, got some wisdom to drop on us, but we can also get other names too,” Yozzo said. “I love Eric Dickerson; he’s a great guy. I mean, my dad knows him more than I do.”